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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think Gone With the Wind really isn't a romantic film?

185 replies

FestiveFruitloop · 27/12/2023 13:10

Just finished watching it, hadn't ever seen it all the way through before. Toxic/abusive relationships, marital rape depicted positively (WTF??), racism and misogyny, manipulative characters... all I can say is I hope it's no longer considered romantic in this day and age. AIBU?

OP posts:
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6
greengreengrass25 · 27/12/2023 15:57

Haven't seen it for years and read the book in the 80s

The worst bit of the film for me at the time was the amputation without anaesthetic and Scarlett was a nurse but quit

kitsuneghost · 27/12/2023 15:58

We learn from the past. Whitewashing history is dangerous OP.

theresnolimits · 27/12/2023 16:01

How great that a film made in 1939 and a book written in the 1930s are still inspiring debate. The power of art.

My twopenneth is that when I read the book at 15 in the 1970s I felt I really understood how hard war was for women. Scarlett is left to run the plantation whilst the men go off to fight and she uses all the means at her disposal to keep things afloat. She has to relearn all her societal norms and, for that, I find her an inspirational woman.

Is it romantic? I thought so at 15, but when Rhett leaves her at the end (spoiler alert), I totally believed she would rise about it and move on 'Tomorrow is another day' because she had such strength and resilience and who doesn't want to be that woman that will be able to cope and has such self belief?

As for the Confederates, I thought they were shown as weak and that their lifestyle was pampered and unsustainable. It is clear in the book that, whatever they thought of themselves, the 'North' was the superior force.

I wouldn't read it or watch it again now (too long!) but that's like much Dickens, George Eliot - of its time. As for Wuthering Heights -I hate that book with a passion now and yet loved it as a teenager. Such dislikeable characters. Now Jane Eyre - still a masterpiece.

God, I love books

caringcarer · 27/12/2023 16:01

stemmedroses · 27/12/2023 14:05

the Ku Klux Klan effectively being heroes are pretty jarring

But that was the case in the South during the Civil War. The Southern States wanting to maintain slavery was one of the reasons for the war.

It's so ridiculous that people don't want to see/hear the unsavoury parts of history.

This. I think GWTW reflected life as it was in the South at a certain period of time.

Ponoka7 · 27/12/2023 16:03

Pemba · 27/12/2023 14:44

I thought the book was awful..Margaret Mitchell was writing in the 1930s wasn't she, not shortly after the Civil war period the novel is set in. The book is basically dishonest and gives a distorted picture of what was going on at the time. Rhett and the other men are involved with the KKK and yet are depicted as dashing romantic heroes. The enslaved people are depicted as childlike and happier and safer when they were living on the plantations. The northern soldiers are depicted as uncivilised scoundrels destroying the harmonious civilisation of the south.

Yes it sold well at the time and was considered a romance. Margaret Mitchell's world view was warped though. The main black actress, Hattie something (?) was given an Oscar but at the Oscar ceremony she was shoved onto a table right at the back, as the venue was normally segregated.The other actors did not stick up for her. Later she died in poverty. I think that says a lot.

The cinematography in the film was lush and Vivien Leigh was gorgeous. That's about all I can say for it. A lot of people quite rightly see it as offensive now.

Clarke Gable was going to refuse his Oscar because of the treatment of Hattie. She persuaded him to attend. He was friends with Marlon Brando who also spoke out against racism. Bette Davis supported and worked with her. She lost money via marriage, but wasn't in poverty. Butterfly McQueen (Prissy) was outspoken about segregation. She felt that all the blacks actors had been demeaned in the film and only did it for the money and exposure.

LifeofBrienne · 27/12/2023 16:04

Pemba · 27/12/2023 14:44

I thought the book was awful..Margaret Mitchell was writing in the 1930s wasn't she, not shortly after the Civil war period the novel is set in. The book is basically dishonest and gives a distorted picture of what was going on at the time. Rhett and the other men are involved with the KKK and yet are depicted as dashing romantic heroes. The enslaved people are depicted as childlike and happier and safer when they were living on the plantations. The northern soldiers are depicted as uncivilised scoundrels destroying the harmonious civilisation of the south.

Yes it sold well at the time and was considered a romance. Margaret Mitchell's world view was warped though. The main black actress, Hattie something (?) was given an Oscar but at the Oscar ceremony she was shoved onto a table right at the back, as the venue was normally segregated.The other actors did not stick up for her. Later she died in poverty. I think that says a lot.

The cinematography in the film was lush and Vivien Leigh was gorgeous. That's about all I can say for it. A lot of people quite rightly see it as offensive now.

There’s a very good episode of The Rest is History podcast on Gone with the Wind which unpacks the mythologising and romanticising during the 20th century of slavery and the pre-war South.

kitsuneghost · 27/12/2023 16:05

@theresnolimits
If you like books I would get reading fast before OP takes to Mumsnet to get books written before 2020 burned

SilverBranchGoldenPears · 27/12/2023 16:06

I. Love. This. Movie.

WesselCups · 27/12/2023 16:38

One of my favourite films and books, both of which I own and give an airing occasionally.

VenusClapTrap · 27/12/2023 16:39

Personally I think it’s a fascinating film. I watched it as a child in the 80s, and it was the first time I’d seen a film with such complicated, flawed characters. A heroine who was horrid? This was new to me.

And more importantly, the juxtaposition of the destruction of their way of life = presented as sad, whilst knowing the end of slavery = obviously good, made me really think and ask lots of questions. It was an early lesson in life not being black and white, and that the perspective of a character/narrator/film maker wasn’t always to be trusted.

I think if this was glaringly obvious to a 10 year old in the 80s, we shouldn’t rush to ban the film now amidst accusations that it ‘normalises’ attitudes of another time. Give audiences more credit. Just switch it off if you don’t want to watch it.

NahHumBrag · 27/12/2023 16:45

I agree with nearly all the previous comments about what a brilliant and epic film it is (and how it’s of its time).

Vivianne Leigh campaigned hard for the role - she knew she knew Scarlett and she was absolutely spot on. She played her brilliantly.

It’s also worth noting what a great movie it is in terms for film making. Nothing on that scale had been made before. The ‘buring of Atlanta’ is a real fire and was a true moment of cinematography history. I could watch the film over and over (and actually quite like SOH! Far more about her than her mealy mouthed sisters! Scarlett, Mammy, Prissy and Belle steal the movie.

TellySavalashairbrush · 27/12/2023 16:50

Always reminds me of my mum. Without fail every time she watched it, she would
declare with conviction that Clark Gable
was renowned for having bad breath! 🤣🤣🤣

Boomer55 · 27/12/2023 16:58

One of my favourites - strong woman and a sense of history.

Poppysmom22 · 27/12/2023 17:08

Yeah it's not about romance at all. It's about triumphing in adversity. It's also about self sacrifice.

THisbackwithavengeance · 27/12/2023 17:38

The book is wonderful as is the film starring one of the world's most beautiful women ever, the great Vivien Leigh.

You absolutely cannot view it though today's eyes/morals.

And I agree, it's not romantic at all. She doesn't even end up with her man at the end of it.

saltinesandcoffeecups · 27/12/2023 17:38

You all should really read up on Margaret Mitchell, she and her family were quite progressive for their time. Would probably give a new perspective to her characters

Maireas · 27/12/2023 17:46

Progressive? On what way?

saltinesandcoffeecups · 27/12/2023 17:49

Maireas · 27/12/2023 17:46

Progressive? On what way?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mitchell

Margaret Mitchell - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mitchell

Maireas · 27/12/2023 17:50

I can't see anything progressive there?
Her knowledge of the Civil War was from the books of a white supremacist?.

Dotjones · 27/12/2023 17:54

The pro-slavery angle is what stands out to me, characters you are meant to feel sympathetic towards being involved in KKK activities for example (though it's toned down so as to be less blatant). It doesn't sit right today although I guess it makes a good point that everyone is an individual who experiences a variety of emotions, even a cross-burning racist will experience love and lost and their emotions are no less valid because of their other interests.

I've always thought the appropriate number of times to watch "Gone with the Wind" in one's lifetime is 0.8; you should watch it more than zero times, but once is too much.

saltinesandcoffeecups · 27/12/2023 17:55

Maireas · 27/12/2023 17:50

I can't see anything progressive there?
Her knowledge of the Civil War was from the books of a white supremacist?.

Well clearly you’ve made up your mind.

Original poster
FestiveFruitloop · 27/12/2023 17:55

kitsuneghost · 27/12/2023 15:58

We learn from the past. Whitewashing history is dangerous OP.

Totally agree re whitewashing, in fact it's something I feel strongly about. I edit republished old fiction for a living and I'm constantly coming up against/doing my best to resist the modern urge to whitewash literature. I'm not suggesting we do that to GWTW - merely commenting that I don't understand why some people claim it's romantic.

I do feel that if we leave certain types of content unchanged then we have to accept some/many people will find it repellent viewed from a modern context.

Some interesting responses on this thread, though, re the various aspects of the film and the book. I'm still not a fan but finding the various points interesting.

OP posts:
Maireas · 27/12/2023 17:55

saltinesandcoffeecups · 27/12/2023 17:55

Well clearly you’ve made up your mind.

Show quote history

Yes. By reading your attachment.

FraiseRoyale · 27/12/2023 17:58

Margaret Mitchell's mother was a very active suffragist; that aspect was progressive. But as to race relations, no.

There are feminist themes in GWTW.

saltinesandcoffeecups · 27/12/2023 17:58

Maireas · 27/12/2023 17:55

Yes. By reading your attachment.

Show quote history

Not very well apparently